


the skeletons in our closets

by NiciLupin



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Teen Romance, honestly I just threw them all into one, some drama because it's high school, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:35:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29561304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NiciLupin/pseuds/NiciLupin
Summary: When Patrick Jane joins St. Magdalena High School, he is maneuvered into a small friend group consisting of Teresa Lisbon, Kimball Cho, Wayne Rigsby and Grace van Pelt. As the year goes on, they discover more secrets about each other than any of them would like. And they might even find, it's not so bad to have someone have your back.
Relationships: Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon, Wayne Rigsby/Grace Van Pelt
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	1. When Patrick met Teresa

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on a high school AU. Honestly, I just have so many ideas for the background story of every single character and I got so excited thinking about a High School AU where I could just mix it up into one story - so I did. Pairings will definitely be Jisbon and Rigspelt eventually, others may come up as well.  
> I may add some further warnings as the story progresses, but I'll state them at the beginning of every chapter anyway. I plan on giving each character their own arc with a certain struggle, but - with few exceptions - we'll stay with Lisbon's perspective for now. I also mixed up the ages a bit, so that I could put them all in school together, obviously, and this is, of course, canon divergent, although I do try to stay in character.  
> Also, I am writing the story as I am posting it, although I do have a few chapters in store already, but I will make no promises on update schedules.
> 
> With that being said, I'm excited to dive right in with you! Have fun!

Teresa wasn’t tired. She just had trouble keeping her eyes open, which was ridiculous since it was such an easy task. She took a deep breath and sat up straighter. She tried to focus on Mrs Porters drawling voice. Ten more minutes. Then she could stand up and take a deep breath in the morning air and hopefully get a bite of her sandwich before her English class started. Her eyes pricked with tears. She wasn’t sad or anything, she didn’t want to cry. Somehow the prospect of school and running track and working at Joey’s afterwards just seemed like an endless task she wasn’t prepared for. The day just stretched out like bubblegum and her eyes seemed to be traitorously tired.

The bell ringing startled her out of her wallowing and she quickly started shoving her notepad and pen into her bag. She was almost out of the door when Mrs Porter called her back.

“Teresa! Please go report to the principal’s office,” Mrs Porter said while straightening her desk.

Teresa clenched her jaw to prevent her face from giving away her surprise. She hadn’t done anything wrong, why was she to report to the principal? Was it about Tommy again? She’d strangle him if he’d gotten into another fight with O’Brien. She clutched the straps of her bag a little tighter.

“Excuse me, Mrs Porter, is anything wrong?”

Now Mrs Porter looked up in confusion. She adjusted her glasses and her eyes widened. “Oh no! No, no – nothing’s wrong.”

Teresa let out a slow breath and smiled at her teacher.

“Principal Minelli has a task for you, that’s all,” Mrs Porter continued.

“Oh, okay. I’ll better get going then. Thanks.”

So much for her break and her sandwich. She sighed before knocking on the door to the principal’s office. Whatever special task it was that Minelli had for her, she was sure she wouldn’t like it. Last time he’d made her oversee decorations for homecoming, which was a total waste of time and made Tracey and Ashley despise her. Not that she cared much for Tracey or Ashley but she did try to stay under the radar with her peers and that didn’t work when Miss Cheerleader Captain and Miss Popular had a special interest in picking on her.

“Ah Teresa!” Minelli motioned for her to shut the door and sit down in front of his desk. What struck her most was that she wasn’t alone with the Principal. There was a boy sitting next to her she’d never seen before. And she was sure she’d noticed him if she’d ever seen him. He looked like the kind of guy her friends would gush about. Tall (not as tall as Rigsby but tall enough she guessed), lean, blonde curls, blue eyes, dimples when he smiled at her.

“Teresa Lisbon, this is Patrick Jane. He’s joining St. Magdalena in your year and I think he could use someone to show him around.”

“Me?” She asked dumbstruck. Of course, _her_ , why would she be here otherwise?

“Yes, you. You are my most reliable student. Any problems?” Minelli raised an eyebrow.

“No, Sir. No problems.” Sure, just that she was tired and looking forward to a break, not another task involving a complete stranger.

“Great! Patrick, Teresa will show you around the school grounds now and if you have any questions later on, you can ask her too.” Minelli clapped his hands and looked at them expectantly. “Anything else?”

“Uh - I have an English lesson now, Sir.”

Minelli waved his hands. “With Ms Hightower?”

She nodded.

“You’re excused. I’ll let Hightower know. Now, off you go.”

“Thank you,” Patrick said, rising off of his chair and giving Minelli a charming smile.

He followed her out of the office and into the packed hallway. She could see people turning their heads to look at them already.

“Let’s start outside,” she said and tilted her head to the staircase that would lead them outside. When the break was over, she’d have enough time to show him around the building without attracting any kind of attention.

“Okay,” Patrick said. He followed her readily. When they stepped out front onto the parking lot he said, “Teresa Lisbon - that’s a nice name.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. What was that supposed to mean? “Thanks... I guess.” Now that he was standing in front of her in the morning sun, she noticed that his plaid shirt hung around his frame a little too big and his blue jeans was bleached at the knees. His shoes had definitely seen better times as well as his backpack. She’d expected a little more from someone with his looks but maybe he didn’t have the money.

He gave her a smile and turned his head to look around. “So, you’re the principal’s darling?”

Teresa scoffed. “I’m not.”

Patrick grinned. “Okay. Well, don’t you want to show me around?”

“Sure. This is the parking lot. If you have a car, I’d be early or the spots will be gone and you don’t want to take Thomas’ or something.”

“I don’t have a car.”

“Well then, bus stop’s over there. Come on.” She started walking towards the sports fields.

“Where are we going?” Patrick asked, when he caught up with her.

“Basketball field.”

“You have a basketball field?”

“Sure. What, your old school didn’t?”

“I never went to school.”

“What?”

“I never went to school before. No wait, I did for two years in elementary, but nothing like this.”

Great, the tour had just doubled in time. Who in their right mind didn’t send their kid to school?

“I traveled quite a bit.”

“What?” She asked, startled by the sudden change of topic.

“You were wondering how come I didn’t go to school and the answer is I traveled around. No time for school.”

She stopped in her tracks and frowned at him. “I wasn’t thinking that.”

“No?” He looked innocent. And amused.

“No.” She stood up a little taller but still she only reached up to his chin.

Now, the smile with the dimples stretched out on his face. “Interesting,” he said.

“What’s interesting?”

“Your denial.”

What was she supposed to say to that? She opened her mouth and closed it again, then she furrowed her brows and turned around to continue her tour.

“Why do you have so many sports fields?” Patrick asked, when she’d showed him the gym.

Teresa shrugged. “High Schools are kind of fond of their sports teams.”

“Are you doing any?”

“I’m running track.”

“But you’d rather play football or baseball. I guess they only let you close to the field as a cheerleader, right?”

How the hell did he know that?

“No,” she said reflexively.

He grinned at her again. “Interesting.”

“Well, do you do any sports?” If he knew everything about her apparently, she wanted to know the same about him at least.

“No. I mean, I never tried it but I can’t imagine I’ll like it.”

“Interesting,” she said pointedly.

He laughed at that. “You’re wearing a baseball jacket and you have a Bears keychain on your bag. And I can’t imagine a girl like you would choose running track over cheerleading if she isn’t appalled by the concept itself. That’s how I know.”

She looked at the jacket she’d borrowed from Stan that morning. He was right.

“What is that? Your thing?”

“Impressed?”

“More surprised. It is kind of obvious. Just, usually people aren’t paying that much attention or at least they don’t tell people.”

“Ah, yeah I guess it’s kind of my thing. But you’re an easy read anyway.”

“An easy read?” She raised an eyebrow while they were walking over to the cafeteria.

“Yeah, you’re obvious. And I’d guess you’re not a good liar.”

She laughed but it sounded hollow even to her own ears. She could feel her heartbeat pick up. Her stomach clenched. She was a good liar. She had to be after all. Jimmy was spilling enough of their family life already. She could not afford for anyone to know about their life. And nobody had ever suspected anything. Nothing she couldn’t control at least. Nothing that couldn’t be covered by a feeble excuse.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to offend you,” Patrick said before she could respond to his first statement.

She waved it off and stepped into the cafeteria.

“So, what’s the deal here?” He asked.

“You get food here.”

He tilted his head and she smiled at him innocently.

“I know that.”

“What, did you deduce that from the menus and the freezers?”

He smiled back at her and shook his head. “Touché. I meant where do people sit? I heard sitting orders are kind of a big deal in high schools.”

Teresa shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll have no problems with that.”

“What do you mean?”

She looked at him, then she looked around the hall. “I mean...” She bit her tongue in order to not tell him that someone with that smile would have no trouble finding people who’d like to sit with him. “I mean you’ll be fine and if not, you can just sit with me and my friends. Besides, most people don’t eat here – too many teachers.”

“Then where do you eat?"

"Outside in the Quad. Here, show me your schedule.” He handed it to her. “See, you’re in the same lunch group as me. You know, in any case, just sit with us.”

He stared at her for a moment and she held his gaze hoping that would show him she wasn’t that easy a read. Finally, he said, “That’s very nice of you, Teresa. Thanks.”

*

She’d showed him around the school building afterwards. Showed him the library, his locker, the lab and the toilets that weren’t unofficially reserved to the Basketball boys. When the bell rang again, she’d excused herself quickly in order to get an excuse to Ms Hightower. Despite what he’d said, she knew Minelli was scared of her and she wouldn’t be happy with her missing the lesson. Better explain herself than rely on Minelli for that.

As it turned out Patrick was joining a few of her classes and she let him sit on the free spot next to her in literature class. He was also assigned Cho’s lab partner since Ray Haffner had just transferred to a different school.

“Heard you have a new guy in your year,” Grace said as soon as she sat down at their table at lunch.

“Yeah. Cho’s new lab partner,” Teresa said.

“And what’s he like? Susan says he’s hot.”

Cho just took a bite of his burger, while she shrugged.

“Oh, come on guys!” Grace looked disappointed.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend or something?” She asked.

Grace’s eyes widened. “No, I don’t. Who would that be?”

“Rigs?”

“What makes you think that?”

“‘Cause he’s in love with you,” Cho chimed in.

“What? Who says that?”

“Everybody says that. I’m sure Hightower said something about it.”

A deep blush crept onto Grace’s cheeks and she deliberately took a sip of her juice. Teresa and Cho grinned at each other, when Wayne Rigsby arrived at their table. Rigsby and Grace were sophomores, while her and Cho were in junior year. They’d become friends in middle school, when Rigsby hadn’t had his summer of growth yet and was still the awkward lanky boy and Grace was still _Bracie Gracie_ , who couldn’t get a word out without tripping on a syllable. Teresa was closed off by nature and drawn more to the other underdogs than any of the popular kids and there weren’t a lot empty tables at lunch.

It had started out with Cho, who was smart and quiet and kind of kicked off the Baseball table after his knee injury. Derek had warned her about him the first time she’d mentioned she’d spent a pleasurably quiet lunch break with him. He said he’d seen him hanging with some gang boys but as long as Cho was good company at school, she didn’t mind what he did in his free time and he didn’t ask about hers. He’d brought Rigsby in when he’d punched a Basketball guy, who was picking on the younger boy and she’d taken pity on Grace during a football match that had her staying on the bleachers.

Now, Rigsby was quarterback and the star of the show but he was loyal as heck and stayed at their table anyway. He was also madly in love with Grace since the first time they’d met and regularly made a fool of himself around her, so it was a good thing he was usually in their company when that happened and not his football clique. Grace herself was rid of the braces now and they boys were lining up at her locker, though she could never forget the insults from middle school and stayed securely in their friend group as well.

“Hightower said something about what?” Rigsby asked.

“Nothing!” Grace was fast to reply. Honestly, Teresa didn’t know why it was such a big deal. She could tell Grace liked him, too. She couldn’t see the problem. “Cho’s got a new lab partner.”

“Really, who is it?” Rigsby sat down next to Grace.

“New guy. And Lisbon knew him first.”

“Really?”

“Minelli made me show him around.”

“And, what’s he like?”

“He’s okay, I guess. A bit… weird. I don’t know. I told him he could sit with us if he doesn’t find another table.”

“Guess he didn’t,” Cho said nodding towards Patrick standing in the middle of the Quad with his tray in hand and a searching look on his face.

Grace and Rigsby turned their heads in unison and Teresa wanted to bury her face in her hands. So much for them and staying low-key. Patrick must have noticed the sudden motion, too, since he looked over to their table and a smile appeared on his face. While he made his way over, Grace leaned in and whispered, “Susan was right.”

She resisted both the urge to roll her eyes and nod enthusiastically.

Patrick stopped at their table. “So, turns out I don’t know where to sit. So… may I?” He pointed to the free spot next to her.

“Sure.”

He sat down and smiled at the others. “Thanks.”

“Everyone, this is Patrick.”

“What’s up,” Rigsby greeted.

“Hi,” said Patrick. “And who is everyone?”

“Wayne Rigsby.”

“Ah, quarterback, I heard.”

Rigsby grinned over his fries while Teresa wondered who he’d heard that from when he couldn’t find anyone to sit with.

“I’m Grace.” Grace smiled at him in a way that made Rigsby frown. “Teresa said you’re new here.”

“I am.”

“Where did you go to school before?”

“Oh, I didn’t go to school.”

“Homeschooled, huh?” Rigsby took a sip of his water and eyed Patrick skeptically.

“You could say that,” Patrick said before digging into his lunch. “Did you get in trouble with Ms Hightower?” He asked her casually.

She furrowed her eyebrows. “No, why would I? Minelli said he’d excuse me.”

He smiled at her again with that curious twinkle in his eyes and the dimples on his cheeks. “Interesting. You know, I just thought, since it’s obvious Minelli’s scared of her and probably didn’t excuse you very well.”

“How the hell do you know that?” She asked.

“Everyone knows that,” said Grace and Patrick nodded.

“Well, I didn’t get in trouble.”

“I’m glad.”

The rest of their lunchbreak was filled with light chatter. Patrick fit in well, he made her laugh a few times and even got a smile out of Cho. He showed Grace some kind of card trick and held up well during Rigsby’s occasional questioning. At the end of the break, she guessed they were all okay with him sitting with them from now on.


	2. home sweet home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a very mild warning for implied alcohol and child abuse here, blink and you miss it, this chapter.

On Friday, she skipped training to meet Derek after school. He was waiting for her at Jenkins’ Ice Cream Parlor a few blocks down, right opposite the small concrete Basketball field he never trained on.

“How are Sarah and Desiree?” She asked taking the ice cream cone he offered her.

“They’re alright. What’s with your brothers? No trouble?”

“Nothing serious.”

They sat down on a bench around the corner. She held her face up against the sun, enjoying the warmth and the color of the sky. She pulled her legs up to her chest.

“Good,” said Derek. “What about your dad?”

She shrugged. “The usual.”

“The usual good or bad?”

“The usual cold black-out. No time for yelling.”

“That’s good I guess.”

She tried to grin but it came out more as a grimace. “True. How’s football going?”

A shadow and a glow passed his face at the same time, twisting his expression. “Pretty good. Going to the cabin for the weekend.”

She didn’t know what exactly it was that was not right about all of this but she knew Derek well enough to know _something_ wasn’t right that he didn’t want to talk about. And seriously, she couldn’t blame him.

“There’s a new guy at school,” she said to switch topics.

Derek grinned at her. “Really? And what’s he like? Got any piercings?”

“Ha ha, very funny. He’s okay. A little weird. Minelli made me show him around and I guess he’s hanging out with us at lunch now. At least he has the past few days.”

“What do you mean – weird?”

“I don’t know, he almost seems to read people’s minds or something.”

“Read minds?”

“He’s just good at paying attention, I think. And selling it.”

Derek leaned back and grinned at her. “So, you like him.”

“What? No!”

He chuckled. “Yeah, you do.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You mentioned him. And you let him sit at your table.”

“So? I’m friendly.”

“You never talk about guys, except if you like them.”

“That’s not true. I mention Rigsby and Cho all the time. Besides – I mean he’s smart. He’s okay. He’s in a few of my classes and I can work with him, doesn’t mean I like him.”

“If you say so.”

She huffed at the smile still plastered on his face and took a bite of her ice cream. “Anyway, can you practice Basketball with Jimmy tomorrow? I have to work until noon.”

“Sure, bring him over. Stan’s coming too?”

“No. He’s staying at Billy’s tonight. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Good for him.”

***

She woke Jimmy up at five in the morning and he gave her the kind of adorable death glare only an 8-year-old could manage. She almost had to laugh at it, until he started complaining loudly.

She put a hand over his mouth. “Hush,” she told him. “Dad’s still asleep.”

“Everyone’s still asleep! It’s so early!”

“I know, I’m sorry, but we’re going to meet Derek.”

“Why do I have to? I want to stay here.” He scooted away from her and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Because I have to go to work.”

“So?”

“You can’t stay here.”

“But Tommy’s here.”

“Tommy has practice at nine. C’mon Jimmy, I don’t have time for this. Get up, get dressed, brush your teeth.”

She stood up and lifted him out of the bed. He gave a frustrated growl that sounded like the T-Rex imitation he’d picked up since she’d taken them to see Jurassic Park a few weeks ago.

She went to put on the white blouse her boss made her wear at the diner and pushed her apron into her bag along with a sweatshirt. She also packed a bag for Jimmy with his water bottle and snacks and sunscreen she knew they probably wouldn’t use. She checked on her dad, who was still snoring on the sofa. Snoring meant breathing, so that was good. When Jimmy hopped down the stairs, she poured milk in for his cereal, while the sun was slowly rising outside the windows. She took him to meet Derek in the park in their old Cherokee Jeep.

When she pulled up at the sidewalk, Jimmy looked over at her. “Can’t I stay with you?” He looked at her with big round eyes that made her heart ache.

“You know you can’t, I’m sorry.”

He looked at his backpack in his lap and worried the zipper between his fingers. “Hey, I promise I’ll pick you up right after work, okay? We’ll do something fun.”

“Like what?”

“Hm, maybe like the county fair?”

That lit up his face. “That sounds fun!”

“Cool, so we have a deal? You be good for Derek and we’ll go to the county fair after I finish work.”

“Okay,” Jimmy agreed. He spat on his palm and extended his hand to her just like he’d apparently learned in camp in the summer. She rolled her eyes but did the same anyway. She shook his hand and wiped hers on her jeans.

“That’s gross by the way. We’ll need to introduce the pinky promise again.”

Jimmy just grinned at her, showing off a missing tooth. “Nope. Bye, T!” And with that he hopped out of the car to greet Derek. She waved at them once, then rushed off to work.

She was glad that she was used to yelling because during morning rush-hours – even on a Saturday – there was not a single employee in Joey’s kitchen not yelling. Despite that it was an okay shift. Mr. and Mrs. Danube stopped by after church and she spent a few minutes chatting with them, while she poured them coffee and brought them breakfast. She knew Mrs. Danube forced her husband to give her a generous tip because she’d adored her mom and she was grateful for that. Better than the tips of pity other members of the community gave her or the ones some truckers left her after trying to pinch her ass.

After work, she went to pick up Stan at Billy’s house and his mother invited her in for lunch. Her stomach was hurting from a lack of food by the time, so she agreed. Usually, she avoided hanging around at Billy’s. Not because she didn’t like Billy or his family – quite the opposite. They were lovely people. It was just that she had kind-of-dated Billy’s older brother Greg the beginning of the year and then kind of stopped rather abruptly. Greg was too nice to ever be sour about it but she knew she’d hurt him and she really didn’t want to make it awkward for either of them.

Stan was excited when she told him they’d go to the county fair, which was a relief. He was almost 13 now and she was prepared for him not wanting to spend his Saturday night with his siblings. Stan was calm, though, easy-going. He joked around with Jimmy the whole way back to their house and offered to prepare snacks if she wanted to get changed and a shower.

When they arrived home, she could hear shouting as soon as she stopped the car. She turned around to look at Stan and Jimmy. Stan had a frown on his face and sat up very straight. Jimmy just bit his lip and scooted closer to Stan.

“It’s okay,” she told them. “You just go upstairs, get ready, okay?”

Both nodded and hurried to their rooms, as soon as she opened the door. She shut it behind her extra loud to make her presence known as soon as Stan and Jimmy were out of sight. She felt the strong urge to follow them tugging at her chest but then she thought of Tommy and forced herself to swallow it and enter the kitchen.

“Hi Dad,” she greeted as if she wasn’t just interrupting a fight. Her dad, who’d gripped Tommy’s arms and shook him, turned his head in surprise. He let go of Tommy, who stumbled back and glared at his father.

“Teresa! Where the hell were you?” Her dad demanded.

“I was working and Jimmy was with Derek. And Stan slept at the Tayback’s, I just picked him up.”

“Why did nobody tell me that?”

She saw out of the corner of her eyes that Tommy opened his mouth with a grimace that promised another angry spout, so she beat him to it. “Sorry, you were asleep. I didn’t want to wake you.” Not to mention that Stan had told him about his weekend plans at dinner on Thursday and her working schedule was pinned to the refrigerator. But arguing these points never did them any good. Tommy should’ve known better at this point but somehow, despite being a year younger than Stan, he’d entered a rebellious phase fueled by a lot of anger that regularly got him – them all, really – in a lot of trouble.

Her dad’s anger seemed to dissipate and he leaned back against the kitchen counter. “Okay. Next time, tell me, alright?”

“Of course.” She’d make sure to write him a note.

“Where are Stan and Jimmy, anyway?”

“Upstairs. We wanted to go to the county fair, if that’s okay.”

Her dad smiled at her. “Sure. You have fun.”

At that she shot Tommy a look and motioned for him to go upstairs. He just crossed his arms.

“Thanks.” She smiled back at her dad. “Let’s go, Tommy.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the kitchen.

“Hey, Reese!” Her dad called, when she was in the hallway. She turned around again. “If you take the car, can you pick me up at Aaron’s tonight? We’re watching the game.”

She nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”

“Thanks, sweetheart. I’ll make you some snacks for the fair.”

“Thanks Dad.”

She ushered Tommy upstairs into the room he and Stan shared. “You have to stop that,” she said.

He flopped down on his bed. “No. _He_ has to stop that.”

She sighed. “You’re right. But that won’t happen and that way you’re just getting yourself in trouble. And frankly us, too. I need you to stop that.”

“You know, I could tell social service at school or something.”

Her head snapped to look at him. “Don’t be stupid,” she replied sharply.

“Why not?” He sprung up. It wouldn’t be long until he was taller than her.

“You know why. If you do that, they’ll pull us apart. Nobody takes in four kids at a time. And Dad would be lost. He’d be dead in days.”

“So? I don’t care.” He stared at her, his lips pursed, his arms crossed.

For a second her hands were itching to shake him and her heart jumped, scared. Then all the energy left her. Her shoulders sank. “Yeah, you do, Tommy.” She swallowed and put her hands on his shoulders. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I know it’s not fair but it’s not like we have a choice.”

Tommy huffed and let his arms fall. “Not your fault,” he muttered. “Can I come to the fair?”

“Sure. Get ready.”


	3. whiskey bent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's Jane again this chapter and I promise the others will be there in the next one, too. 
> 
> Warnings for alcohol abuse apply here and probably child abuse since we're taking about severe neglect and parentification here but I guess that applies for Teresa in general. Anyway, if you don't want to read that you can skip the last part of the chapter after the stars. It's not crucial to understand the storyline, so don't worry!
> 
> As always, enjoy!

She’d taken 15 minutes in the shower, which were probably going to be the highlight of her day. Not that she didn’t love spending time with her brothers but between school, work, her dad and her brothers there wasn’t much time left to herself. She put on jeans and a t-shirt and her mom’s old leather jacket before heading downstairs. Stan and Jimmy were helping their dad making sandwiches in the kitchen while Tommy sat brooding on the sofa. Jimmy beamed at her in excitement and hugged their dad goodbye, before hopping into the jeep. Her Dad handed her a few dollars while Tommy and Stan grabbed their snacks and followed Jimmy into the car.

The county fair was half an hour drive from their house and they spent it singing along to Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. She parked the car on the meadow near the fair and forced Jimmy to take her hand so that he wouldn’t get run over by a car. Stan and Jimmy were babbling about the ghost train already while Tommy rolled his eyes at them.

They stopped at the chairoplane first even though Stan looked rather pale afterwards claiming he didn’t deal well with going in circles. Jimmy and Tommy insisted on taking a ride on something called _The Voodoo Jumper_ which jumped in circles. They were mocking Stan trying to get him to join him until she shooed them away. She stayed with Stan, watching Tommy and Jimmy get in line.

“Dad said he’ll be out with Aaron tonight. You’re picking him up?” Stan said when Tommy and Jimmy sat down in their seats.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“Do you want me to come?”

She smiled at him and shook her head. “Thanks. But I’ll be fine. It’s probably going to get late and I need you to stay with these two.” She motioned towards the carousel and waved at Jimmy, who was calling her name and grinning at her.

“Sounds fun.” Stan pushed his hands into his pockets, rolled his eyes and smirked at her.

“You’ll live,” she said.

They each had a sandwich, when Tommy and Jimmy joined them. Then they went on to the ghost trains, which she had to drag Tommy on. He enjoyed it anyway so she didn’t know why he had to be difficult about it on principle but she decided not to ponder it further. When Jimmy insisted on going duck fishing afterwards Stan and Tommy groaned. She let them run off to the shooting gallery already and promised to meet them there later. Jimmy fished a good nine ducks out of the water and got a dinosaur action figure as a reward, so that they spent the way to the shooting galleries happily conversing with a triceratops.

She found Stan and Tommy trying to shoot moving horses, missing more than actually meeting targets. What was more striking was Patrick Jane casually leaning against the booth, watching her brothers. They finished shooting and turned towards him right when she arrived.

“How’d you do that?” She heard Tommy asking. Patrick grinned.

“How’d he do what?” She chimed in. Tommy and Stan turned around to look at her, while Patrick said, “Hi Teresa.”

“You know each other?” Stan asked perplexed.

“Yeah, from school.”

“Your sister was condemned to show me around.” His bright smile was a charming contradiction to his statement.

Stan and Tommy raised their eyebrows and smirked at her. She rolled her eyes. “So, what did you do?” She asked.

“He hit every single target,” explained Stan.

“We can’t even get three,” said Tommy.

“You can’t get three. I got four.”

“You _almost_ got four. Don’t pretend you’re a better shooter.”

“I _am_ a better shooter.”

“You are so not! You were just lucky. I could beat you any time!”

“Boys!” She interrupted them before they could make it into a real fight.

“Don’t worry, guys. The game’s rigged,” said Patrick.

“What do you mean?” Tommy and Stan turned towards him again.

“They manipulate the rifles so that you miss the targets. That’s how they make their money,” he explained, shrugging. “I can show you how to aim to win.”

“Ha. I’d love to see that,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Patrick’s smile only widened.

“You don’t believe me?”

“Oh, I believe it’s rigged, everyone knows that. I just don’t believe you figured out how to outsmart it.”

“They told you, I hit every mark.”

“Chance.”

“I can show you.”

“Alright, show me.”

Her brothers were grinning in anticipation and amusement and Stan lifted Jimmy so that he could have a better view, while her and Patrick paid for another round. They took up their rifles and the plastic horses started to race along their tracks. She did get five shots to hit their targets but she did see one horse after another topple over with Patrick’s shots. Her brothers cheered with admiration while the owner of the booth was looking quite annoyed. He pursed his lips and scowled at Patrick when he demanded the biggest Teddy Bear he had as his price.

For a moment her pulse picked up speed, anticipating the cliché gift. But Patrick didn’t hand her the Teddy Bear, instead he tossed it to Jimmy, whose eyes lit up. Her heart rate settled a little even though there was a giddy flutter spreading in her stomach and her chest at the sight of Patrick helping Jimmy pick out names for his new toys.

“Believe me now?” He finally asked, smug smile on his face.

She raised one eyebrow and crossed her arms. “I guess. But only if you tell me how you do it.”

“Can we go to the Funhouse, already?” Stan interrupted before Patrick could reply. “Meet you there?”

“Sure,” she said. “Take care of Jimmy.”

“We will. See you, sis.” Tommy grinned and waved at her, while they sauntered off.

“I can show you how I do it,” Patrick said as soon as her brothers disappeared in the masses.

“Okay.” She paid once more and the owner growled, looking straight at Patrick.

“Last one for you, boy.” Patrick nodded at him. He stood behind her and carefully put his hands on her sides. She jumped a little and stared at him over her shoulder.

“Relax. Aim now.”

She did as she was told. She aimed perfectly at a plastic horse but missed the target anyway. “I don’t get it,” she muttered.

“Would’ve been perfect,” he said near her ear. “But you need to know that this one is always firing a little to the right. Meaning if you aim accurately, you’ll actually shoot a little too far right. Here.” He put his hands over hers on the rifle, effectively engulfing her in his arms. “Now, if you aim a little more left…” He adjusted the rifle. It looked wrong now, looked like she was sure to miss but when they pulled the trigger the horse toppled over. They shot another one together and another and then he pulled back and she finished the round on her own.

She jumped happily when she saw that she’d won and turned around to beam at him. A small part of her was still processing his proximity, his warmth, his lean form pressed against her back, his slightly calloused fingers on her hands. That part wanted to embrace him, feel that profound, solid warmth again but, of course, she didn’t. It was silly – she didn’t even know him, really.

She let a random kid pick a price and they scattered when the booth owner looked ready to punch Patrick or call the cops.

“How did you know that?” She asked when they were strolling along the grass on the way to the Funhouse.

“I grew up here,” he said.

“In Chicago?”

“On the carnival.”

She glanced at him. He was fiddling with a plaited bracelet on his left wrist and seemed to be studying each booth and each tent they passed.

“You grew up on the carnival?”

“Exactly.” He gave her a small smile. “Surprised?”

“Yeah, I mean. I’ve never met anyone from the carnival before so I can’t really say, but – I don’t know. I didn’t expect that.”

“I think that’s pretty much the definition of surprised.” He grinned at her again.

She rolled her eyes. “Makes sense, though. You said you were travelling around before. Why are you here now? Your parents changed their mind or what?”

His grin had faltered and he seemed to ponder his response. “Something like that,” he said.

She could see there was more to it than he was telling her but who was she to prod at that? If he didn’t want to talk about it, she wouldn’t make him. She knew better than anybody there were things better left unspoken for various reasons.

“So, you’re on babysitting duty today?” He asked, probably to change the topic but it caught her off guard. She stared at him for a second and she could practically see him reading every micro expression on her face. One day, she’d have to figure out where he learned that. Maybe on the carnival?

“Uh, yeah. Something like that,” she replied fully aware of what a lame move it was to throw his words back at him. He didn’t seem to mind, though. He just smiled and nodded and they walked a few yards in comfortable silence.

Just before they reached the Funhouse she looked at him again. “That was the oldest trick in the book, by the way.”

His head shot up and his eyes slightly widened in confusion. “Manipulating the rifles?”

She grinned. “Showing me how to aim.” 

“Oh,” he made. He looked positively sheepish now, running a hand through his hair. “Well, I was just trying to help your education, you know, like you’re helping mine.” 

Now she had to keep herself from laughing. “Sure.”

She let Patrick stay with them throughout the Funhouse and the bumper cars, providing insight on the carnival that she wasn’t sure she could believe and smuggling her brothers in on rides that otherwise had an endless queue. When it was nearing Jimmy’s bedtime, she practically had to drag them away from the fair. Patrick stayed behind, claiming he was still looking for someone.

“Your new boyfriend is cool,” said Stan on their way back home.

“He is _not_ my boyfriend. He’s just a guy from school.”

Tommy snickered in the back. “Sure and I am John Travolta.”

She glared at him in the rearview mirror. “I barely know him.”

“What’s your point?” Stan supplied, grinning at her from the passenger seat.

“Point is, he is not my boyfriend, we are barely friends and it’s none of your business anyways.”

The rest of the drive she turned on the music to drown out her brothers’ teasing and when they arrived home, Jimmy had already fallen asleep. She carried him inside and made him change into his pajamas, giving him a pass on brushing his teeth. Stan and Tommy were sitting on the couch fighting over what to watch on TV, when she came downstairs. She took the remote from them and forced them to watch Football together.

When the phone rang, it was John Heaton, informing her, her father was ready to be picked up. John was a friend of her dad. They’d worked together in the same department, when he had still gone to work regularly. Now, they only met over drinks in Aaron’s basement and John was usually the most sober one and therefor the one to call her. He was also the one, who helped her drag her dad into the car and offered his help, if she ever needed it. She usually had to bite back a remark that he could best help her by _not_ encouraging her father to drink.

She told Tommy and Stan to get ready for bed and go to their room, while she went to pick up their dad. On Saturdays he was usually too out of it to even notice them but just in case he was not, she didn’t want her brothers – especially Tommy – anywhere near him.

***

She arrived at Aaron’s house twenty minutes later and backed the car up in the driveway. She opened the passenger door and took a deep, calming breath before ringing the bell. Aaron’s wife opened the door in a face mask and a dressing gown and smiled at her sympathetically.

“Hello Teresa,” she greeted.

“Hi Cheryl. I’m here to pick up my dad.”

“They’re in the basement, you know the way.” Cheryl stepped aside and let her in. They had a nice house. Wooden floor and light furniture but when she came near the stairs leading to the basement she could already smell cigarette smoke and hard liquor. Her stomach clenched and she had to force her feet to get on the stairs. She looked at Cheryl once more in hopes she’d go with her but Aaron’s wife did quite the opposite: She disappeared up the stairs in her bedroom.

Teresa swallowed over the lump in her throat and straightened her back. She’d just get this over with. She climbed down the stairs and could already hear the sounds of music turned too loud and the laughter of the men.

When she took the last step, her dad and his friends noticed her. “Teresa!” They cheered and she gave them an awkward smile. Her dad was sitting on a bar stool, beer in hand but his shoulders were sloping, his eyes droopy.

“Hey Sweetheart!” Aaron crossed the room swaying a little and put one arm around her shoulders. He smelled of smoke and sweat and beer and she stiffened immediately. “You wanna drink something?”

She kept the smile plastered to her face but took a polite step away. “No, thanks. I’m pretty tired. Ready to go, Dad?” She put a hand on her father’s shoulder and his head rolled back. He grinned at her but his eyes could barely focus.

“Sure… sweetie,” he slurred. He tried to get off the stool and almost fell when his feet hit the floor. She caught him, though, taking his arm and holding him upright. “S’cuse,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay.”

“You don’t wanna drink something, baby?” He asked.

“No thanks, Dad, I have to drive, remember? Where’s your jacket?”

“Here.” John handed her the jacket her father had worn and his wallet. “You need help?” She couldn’t quite tell if he was asking her or her dad.

“Nah, it’s fine,” she replied.

“Yeah, ‘s fine,” her dad repeated. “Teresa is – is a good girl. She takes care o’ me. ‘m proud of you, Sweetie.” He leaned all his weight on her and her legs almost gave in. She swayed him back upright and he pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek, which made her want to bolt. Her stomach dropped and she had to take a deep breath. She fought the urge to drop his arm and run away immediately, remembering that he didn’t know what he was doing and that he would be lost if she didn’t take him home. Her shoulders tensed and she grit her teeth, forcing her lips to stretch into a smile. “Aww,” she made. It sounded hollow but none of the men seemed to notice. “Let’s go home, shall we?”

She maneuvered her father into the passenger seat. He almost fell on the stairs twice and she had to lift one of his legs in but as soon as he was sitting in the car, his head rolled back and he closed his eyes. She buckled him and closed the door.

It took her ten minutes to wake him up, when they got home. She opened the passenger door and shook his shoulders but he only mumbled incoherently. It was only when the neighbor’s dog started barking that he opened his eyes. He stumbled out of the car and towards the front door, tripping on the stairs again. She had to take another 5 minutes to get him up and into the house again even though he claimed he could just stay in place and he’d get up in a minute. Finally, he slumped down on the sofa, one foot still on the floor. She took off his shoes and put a bucket next to the table, just in case.

She briefly thought about trying to get him to bed but the stairs seemed an impossible obstacle and she was just so _tired_ , so she didn’t.

She locked the front door and turned off the light and mumbled a “Goodnight Dad” before heading to her room for the night. Snoring was all the reply she got.


End file.
